To the poor living in desperate conditions, the border-crossing roads between countries are the roads of hope. Unfortunately, they are also fragile bridges hanging above the crack of slavery.
Lincang is a city in southwest Yunnan that connects with Myanmar and serves as a hub for the traffic from China towards the Indian Ocean, bolstered by 12 international and domestic transportation routes. Sadly, such accessibility was often taken advantage of by human traffickers.
Development is often a two-sided sword that wields both benefits and issues. “Migrant worker” is no longer a novel term after being featured so much by the media of Hong Kong and China in the stories of developments. Kunming is one of the main destinations in where farmers wish to improve their living conditions and search for new opportunities, often bringing their children along with them. However, harsh truths await them behind the dreams. Without proper household registration, the migrant children could not access education, medical, and social security benefits. Busy parents lack the time to stay with their children, and the majority of the families could not afford private schools. Under such circumstances, migrant children are likely to inherit the poverty status of their families.
The negative effect of poverty often spans across generations. Farmers who migrated to the cities for better opportunities usually find themselves experiencing the same hardships, only in different forms, while putting their children in a specific set of challenges.
Kunming is the destination of a large migrant worker population. Children who migrated with their parents are often very young and suffer from the transition from rural areas to cities. They are often being segregated over their status, and are excluded from the local education, medical, and residential benefits due to the ownership of foreign household registrations. Schools are less likely to admit them, and even if the family could afford the high tuition, the children might not adapt to the different education model so easily. Busy parents lack the time to stay with their children, which aggravates the situation. There are numerous cases where children are being hurt in traffic accidents, drowning, and robbery each year.
[ePrayer – Pray for the ministry in Gengma, Yunnan]
Deputy Director of Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Health expressed his appreciation to the staff of Gengma County Christian Council (Social Service) after attending the training session, commenting it’s practical and “down-to-earth” HIV/AIDS prevention training.
A grandfather residing in the rural village of Gengma, Yunnan lost his wife last year, leaving him and his little granddaughter alone. All these years his life is troubled by problems causing by his drug-addicted son, and now, he has an additional worry if he can raise his little granddaughter till she is grown-up. ‘I can no longer cut down the sugar cane by myself. I obtain some income from renting out my farm to others and also from being a watchman in an orange grove. I also plant some maze and rear chicken for living.’
Since 2007, CEDAR has organized ‘Integral Mission’ training for the Yunnan churches, encouraging them to walk with the poor and respond to the need of the impoverished people. Many churches then started to set up their “social service team” and regularly paid visits to the poor, orphan and widows, and the elderly in the communities. A lot of these marginalised families suffer from drug addict and HIV/AIDS problem. The grandfather mentioned above is among those that the Gengma church visit regularly. They listen to him, share his burdens and provide emotional and spiritual support. The church even arranges him to join a training on rearing chicken and hope such techniques can help him to earn a better living.
Besides visiting the impoverished households, CEDAR’s partner “Christian Council (Social Service) of Gengma Dai & Va Nationality Autonomous County” also organise HIV/AIDS prevention training at different churches and provide support for the youth migrant workers.
Pray for the ministry in Gengma, Yunnan:
Thank God for the meaningful service by the Gengma churches, that through them many impoverished people and marginalised families receive care and support;
Pray for the work in supporting the HIV/AIDS affected families and youth migrant workers, and that a lot more impoverished families will be blessed though the services of the local churches.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details. [2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts. [3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
According to the Nepal officials, among those Nepali migrant workers involving in the construction work for the World Cup event in Qatar, at least 185 died last year. Many of them died because of acute heart disease and injuries at work. The total deaths of Nepali migrant workers total to 382 in the last two years, in Qatar alone. An Amnesty International report released last November informs us that migrant workers in Qatar suffer a series of abuses such as working 12 hours per day during the summer months when temperatures regularly reach 45C, long delay in receiving their wage payment, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and squalid and overcrowded living environment. FIFA and Ministry of Labour in Qatar promised to take action to ensure the safety of workers but no improvements are made so far.
Qatar is an Arab country locating in south west of Asia. The decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was made in December 2010, and since then, Qatar has made use of migrant workers to fulfill the huge construction need. At present, over 2 million migrant workers are working in the country and one sixth of them are Nepali. Others come from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. According to the official 2013 statistics, Qatar has a population of about 2 million but only 10 percent of them are Qatari citizens. The number of migrant workers is expected to rise further with burgeoning construction demands.
Migrant workers are subject to a labor system which is the source of trafficking and forced labor. Qatar follows the kafala sponsorship system in regulating the non-technical migrant workers. This system ties a migrant worker’s legal status to his sponsoring employer The sponsor is a legal control to secure the funding in obtaining the working visa, accommodation, and other legal benefits. If a migrant worker wants to change job or exit the country, he needs to obtain consent from his sponsor. Qatar prohibits migrant workers from unionizing or striking, and this makes them very difficult to seek assistance if face unjust treatment. Despite all these, tens of thousands of impoverished Nepalis continue to head every year to Qatar fighting for a job. [Guardian#1][Guardian#2][Asiaone][HRW]
Meditate on Scripture:
‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’ Leviticus 23:22
‘For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.’ Deuteronomy 10:17-19
The Israelites were oppressed as forced labours in Egypt, and God rescued and brought them out of Egypt. God ordered the Israelites to love the foreigners since they should know how it feels to be foreigners as they were foreigners in Egypt before. Though we might not experience foreigner’s life now, God watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow. Hence, we should reflect His nature and character in our manners and behaviours. We should also learn how to see the world through His eyes, understand and remember the needs of the poor. May His justice and mercy prevail.
Pray for the Migrant Workers in Qatar:
that Qatar will soon abolish the kafala sponsorship system and stop any forms of abuses arising from it;
that FIFA and the Ministry of Labour in Qatar will take action to ensure the safety of the migrant workers;
that the working and living conditions, salaries and lives of the migrant labours will be improved and secured.
[ePrayer – Pray for migrant workers in N. Thailand]
Our partner’s Mekong Migrant Foundation (MMF) reaches out to migrant workers in need through providing different supports such as legal support to Burmese migrant workers on issues related to work permits & registration, processing labour disputes and reconciliation. MMF has been very busy recently working on a case which involved over 200 migrant workers at a garment factory in Mae Sai. Give thanks that most of the workers recovered their unpaid wages, passports, and work permits from their employer. During last year there has been more cooperative effort between MMF and the local Labor Protection and Welfare Office.
Pray for migrant workers in N. Thailand:
Pray that a number of suggestions related to migrant workers’ interests and rights that MMF gave to the Labour Protection and Welfare Office will be considered and adopted, e.g. related official department should have a translator to strengthen the communication with migrant workers;
Remember MMF as they provide different supports to the migrant workers easing their difficulties.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details. [2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts. [3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
